A great way to save money in the long run for my family is to learn how to stockpile. Don’t forget that my preference for Couponing is “needs” based.
Where to start?
Inventory your home for the items that you need for you and your family. Create a list of those things.
Do you already have a stockpile of items?
Get a good sense of what are the things your family routinely needs in the home.
Are you running out of any of them?
Now remember, focus only on your NEEDS.(Yes, I bug!)
For example, I would love to add disposable plates to my list so I never have to wash another plate after dinner again… but that would not be very green or frugal of me… hence…not a need and not on my list 
- Cleaning- surface cleaner, paper towels (I have cut down on these ), dish soap, dishwasher liquid, etc.
- Laundry- detergent, softener, dryer sheets, stain fighters
- Bathroom- toilet paper and scrubbing bubbles
- Personal Care- toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, etc.
- Grocery- Lunch meat, cereal, milk, eggs, bread, etc.
Another example is that my house cannot be without canned green beans and corn. It will be close to divorce if my husband goes for a can and its not there. I swear I never ate so many canned green beans in my life until I met him. You are probably thinking, “why not buy the real green beans and cook them. They are more healthy.” Well, my husband is a baby. Anything healthy I try to give him, he later wines that his stomach hurts and it was that healthy **** that I made him eat No joke, so I gave up that battle.
Some More Useful Tips:
- Carry a little notebook to help you keep up with your list. Something that you can easily carry in your purse or in your car when you will be out shopping.
- Make sure you have a running list of the things you need that you are going to run out of soon.
- Decide how much storage space you have for your stockpile and shop accordingly.
After a little practice, you will be able to focus your shopping according to what is on your list. Now that I am stockpiling, I keep a list of all the things that I have plenty of and do not need to buy no matter how good the deal might be. I only try to stockpile for about 2 months in advance because I live in a small condo and have no real storage. No jello boxes under my bed allowed.
Now for the list of the things you do need to buy before you run out. When I have that list in mind and on paper, I start searching my inserts for those items. I will even google some of those items if I have a preferred brand but in order to really save money, you cannot limit yourself to certain brands.
Go to: Coupons.com , Redplum, and Smartsource. Finally, you can order them from Coupons & Things by Dede.
Chances are that you will find a coupon but maybe not for your preferred brand. If you don’t then don’t sweat it. Like I said before, you win some and you lose some. What matters is that you are consistently saving overall.
Don’t wait until you have run out of your need items because chances are that you will then have to go pay full price. Ever run out of laundry soap when you have another 4 loads to go… yep, it has happened to me too.
Once you have a good running inventory of all of your needs that you stockpiled by gathering your coupons and matching them to sales and clearance items, you will start to see a few more weeks in the month with more wiggle room in your budget. Boy does that feel good! Stay focused and you will get there.
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